Mouthpiece-protector for telephone-transmitters.



v C. T. SMITH. MOUTHPIECE PROTECTOR FOR TELEPHONE TRANSMITTERS.

APPLICATION FILED lULY I7, 1914.

o Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

INVE/VmH:

JJ gg Wm/7 THE NORRIS PETEfi'S CO., PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON. B4 C4 CHARLES '1. SMITH, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY;

MOUTHPIECE-PROTECTOR FOR TELEPHONE-TRANSMITTERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

Application filed July 17, 1914. Serial No. 851,466.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES '1. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in Mouthpiece-Protectors for TelephoneTransmitters, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of this invention are to provide improved means for covering the trans mitter mouthpiece of a telephone when not in use, so as to protect it from dirt, dust, germs and the like and make it more sanitary; to provide means applicable to the various kinds of phones now in use; to cover and uncover the mouthpiece automatically and without effort on the part of the user; to provide such a device which will operate when the transmitter is turned on its pivot; to insure a positive and entire covering of the mouthpiece when the transmitter is turned to its extreme positions; to hold the cap sections comprising the covering means normally open by springs; to secure simplicity of construction and operation, and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a telephone to which my invention has been applied; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the upper end of a telephone showing my covering cap for the transmitter mouthpiece in closed posi tion; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the transmitter turned to its extreme lowest position; Fig. 4L- is a plan showing the cap sections open; Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a clip for attaching the operating rod to the telephone receiver arm; Fig. 6 is a detail perspective View of the means employed for causing the cap sections to fully close when the transmitter is turned to its lowest position, and Fig. 7 is a deta l perspective view of a modified construction of collar.

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in said drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates the usual stand or body portion of a telephone having at its side a receiver arm 2 adapted to swing up and down and forked at its outerend to admit and support a receiver 3. It is to be understood that the receiver arm 2 is held in its lowered position by the weight of the receiver thereon and will swing up into its raised position with the removal of the receiver. Pivotally carried at the upper end of the stand 1 is the usual forwardly direct-- ed transmitter 4: having at. its front a trumpet-like mouthpiece 5 the open flared end 6 of which extends forwardly toward the speaker as is usual, whereas the smaller end of the mouthpiece is toward the transmitter 1 and inserted therein. By virtue of the pivotal mounting of the transmitter in the stand, said transmitter may be turned up and down at will through a considerable arc to accommodate speakers of different heights. Figs. 1 and 2 show the telephone transmitter in its usual or normal position and Fig. 3 shows the transmitter turned to its lowest position.

In carrying out my invention, I place. a collar 7 around the mouthpiece 5 adjacent the transmitter 4, the diverging walls of the mouthpiece preventing said collar from slipping outward. This collar 7 is preferably made as a split ring provided with ears 8 upon opposite sides of the split to receive and be held together by a screw 9 or other suitable means. In thus securing the ends together it is also preferable to cause the collar to grip the mouthpiece within itself and lie rigid therewith so as to maintain the collar in a definite position. From the portion of the collar which lies at the top of the mouthpiece extends upwardly a bracket 10 to the upper end of which is pivoted, as at 11, an operating lever 12 hereinafter de scribed. This bracket may be of any desired shape and I have shown the same in Figs. 1--6 as a single post formed integral with the collar, but it might be bifurcated as shown at 13 in Fig. 7 so as to disclose the usual identification or call number of the telephone through the bifurcation.

For inclosing the outer end of the transmitter mouthpiece, I provide a cap 14 constituting a substantially circular end closure provided with a peripheral skirt 15 conforming in configuration with the outside lateral surface of the mouthpiece. The cap 14: is preferably divided into halves or cover sections 16, 16 separable upon a vertical plane, one of said sections having an ofiset flange 17, along the edge upon which the sections separate, adapted to overlie the other section and prevent foreign matter from entering through the crevice. To aid in thus excluding foreign matter, the inner surface of the end closure may be lined in any suit? able manner as by a disinfectant pad.

At the end of each skirt toward the transmitter 1, I form a pair of outer transverse alined curls or hinge sleeves 18 preferably integral with the skirt and parallel to the plane dividing the sections, the sleeves of each pair being separated from each other longitudinally of themselves. A pivot rod 19 extends through each pair of these sleeves and closing of the cover sections automatically and together, and to this end I provide the operating lever 12 above mentioned. 'lhislever extends from the point of pivoting on the bracket 10 forwardly in front of the pivot rods of the cover sections and 1s forked with its prongs 21 overlying upon opposite sides of the skirts 15. By swinging the fork forward, the prongs engage the skirts and wedgingly force the cover sections together;

In order to-swing the cover sections apart or open when the fork is swung backward, I provide helical springs 22, 22 upon the pivot rods 19, 19, between the separated sleeves 18, 18, one end of each spring bearing against the mouthpiece for purchase and the other end of each underlying its respective cover section, so that by merely retracting the fork said cover sections are opened by the springs.

In order to automatically remove the cap when the telephone is in use and replace the cap when the telephone is not in use, I connect the operating lever 12 at its end behind the pivotal support 11 to the receiver arm 2,

as for instance by'the rod or wire 23, which is preferably flexible, so that as the receiver arm 2 swings up, carrying the rod 23 with it, the fork is caused to swing back and allow the cover sections 16, 16 to open apart. By returning the receiver 3 to place, the receiver arm 2 is swung down carrying the rod 23 and swinging the operating lever 12 to close the cover sections 16, 16 as above described. V

For attaching the rod 23 to the receiver arm, I provide a clip 24 shown in detail in Fig. 5. This clip comprises a U-member 25 adapted to receive the receiver arm between its legs and provided with suitable means,

such as the screw 26 connecting the free ends of the legs, for clamping the clip to the receiver arm. One of said legs is provided with a lateral boss 27 having an upwardly open hole 28 in which the rod or wire 23 is inserted and clamped as by a set screw 29. Obviously the rod 23 may be adjusted to the proper position within the hole 28 of the clip and clamped there, thus adapting the device to use with the various telephones on the market. Furthermore this clip permits the ready application of the device to a telephone, requiring no special tools and causing no injury to the instrument.

In ordinary use, the cap sections will be closed together when the receiver is hung upon its hook, but when the transmitter is turned into its extreme lowest position, other means may become necessary to efi'ect a complete closure. This I have shown to be a finger 30 having a cross bar 31 adapted to engage laterally against the rod 23 and bend the same when the transmitter is turned to its lowest position (see Fig. 3). Said finger provides a hooked end 32 opposite from the cross bar 31 adapted to be clamped upon the wire terminal 33 of the transmitter so as to rigidly support the finger in proper position. Normally the rod 23 does not engage the cross bar 31, such engagement occurring only when the transmitter is swung all the way down as described. There are other ways, however, of obtaining a complete closure of the cap sections with the transmitter in this abnormal position, and I do not restrict myself to this particular means.

Obviously instead of having a spring open the cap sections and a lever close them, such arrangement might be reversed and the spring close the cap sections and the lever open them, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Other means 01 operating the cap sections might also be used, as necessary or desirable to adapt my invention to different kinds of telephone, wall, desk, or the like, and the cap itself might be made in any other suitable manner to efiect the purpose set forth. In fact, any detail modifications may be made in the mechanical embodiment of my invention, without departing from its spirit and scope, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself except as may be required by the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art.

Having thus described the invention what I claim is,

l. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to encircle the neck of the mouthpiece adjacent the transmitter in fixed relation thereto, opposite cap sections pivoted to said support to swing toward each other to cover the transmitter and away from each other to uncover it, spiral springs bearing at one end against the cap sections to normally open the same, and means for holding said cap sections closed together.

2. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to encircle the neck of the mouthpiece adjacent the transmitter in fixed relation thereto, opposite cap sections each having a pair of alined hinge sleeves, said support providing a pair of brackets for each cap section, a pivot rod extending through corresponding pairs of brackets and hinge sleeves, and spiral springs one on each of said pivot rods said springs bearing at one end against the cap sections to normally open the same.

8. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to encircle the neck of the mouthpiece adjacent the transmitter in fixed relation thereto, opposite cap sections each having a pair of alined hinge sleeves, said support providing a pair of brackets for each cap section, a pivot rod extending through corresponding pairs of brackets and hinge sleeves, spiral springs one on each of said pivot rods said springs bearing at one end against the cap sections to normally open the same, and means for holding said cap sections together.

4;. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to encircle the neck of the mouthpiece adj acent the transmitter in fixed relation thereto, opposite cap sections each having a pair of alined hinge sleeves, said support providing a pair of brackets for each cap section, a pivot rod extending through corresponding pairs of brackets and hinge sleeves, spiral springs one on each of said pivot rods said springs bearing at one end against the mouthpiece and at the other end against the cap sections to normally open the same, and means for holding said cap sections together.

5. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising in combination with a telephone, opposite cap sections pivoted to swing to cover and uncover the telephone mouthpiece, a member connected with said cap sections and with the receiver arm of the telephone adapted to close said cap Will sections over the mouthpiece when the transmitter is in normal position, and means for permitting said member to close said cap sections when the transmitter is in abnormal position.

6. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising in combination with a telephone, a cap for the telephone mouthpiece, a flexible member connected therewith and with the receiver arm of the telephone adapted to close the cap over said mouthpiece when the transmitter is in normal position, and a finger projecting from the transmitter adapted to engage and bend said flexible member when said transmitter is in abnormal position and the receiver arm lowered, thereby causing the cap sections to close completely when the transmitter is in said abnormal position.

7. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising in combination with a telephone, a cap for the telephone mouthpiece, a flexible member connected therewith and with the receiver arm of the telephone adapted to close the cap over said mouthpiece when the transmitter is in normal position, and a finger adapted to engage and bend said flexible member when the transmitter is in abnormal position and the receiver arm lowered, said flexible member operating independent of said finger when the transmitter is in normal position.

8. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising in combination with a telephone, a cap for the telephone mouthpiece, a flexible member connected therewith and with the receiver arm of the telephone adapted to close the cap over said mouthpiece when the transmitter is in normal position, and a finger fixed to the trans mitter providing a cross bar adapted to en gage and bend said flexible member when the transmitter is in abnormal position and the receiver arm lowered, said flexible member operating independent of said finger when the transmitter is in normal position.

CHARLES T. SMITH.

Witnesses:

HOWARD P. KING, MILDRED E. BROOKS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

